Willrow

[Maximus]

Great recent photos Bill High Brown Frits, Large Heath and Large Blues, beautiful images In answer to your question, I have it on good authority that when the time is right the Large Blue Larvae throw themselves from the top of the wild Marjoram to the ground, where they are then (hopefully) collected by the ants.

Mike

[Neil Freeman]

Hi Bill,

Catch up time for me again, doesn't it fly by at this time of year. Great Reports and photos of the High Browns, Large Heaths, and Large blues and all on the same page of your diary too.

Cheers,

Neil

[Willrow]

Your Large Heath photo is what I set out for yesterday, your photos are great Willrow, at least I saw them for the first time as they went whizzing passed Goldie

at least you got to see them Goldie thanks for the nice comment

Cracking shots Willrow, and that fully opened wing is the Creme de la Creme and worthy of a least two greens

Wow two greens...I'm utterly gobsmacked Wurz...thank you

Great shot of the egg-laying Bill Did you manage to see the eggs?

Yes, I did Pauline, problem was I would have probably disturbed the egg by trying to handle the plant into a position for a photo, something I was not prepared to risk. Thank you for the kind comment

I have it on good authority that when the time is right the Large Blue Larvae throw themselves from the top of the wild Marjoram to the ground, where they are then (hopefully) collected by the ants.

That's the kind of feedback I wanted, thank you Mike it's much appreciated, another piece of the puzzle put in place

Kind Regards to you all, please accept my apologies for not commenting on your more recent PD posts, I want to read them all in full when time allows

Bill

"When in doubt - venture out"

[Willrow]

I spent Thursday and Friday of last week at the UK's premier Purple Emperor place Fermyn Woods, Northamptonshire where so many other enthusiasts visit to coincide with the peak emergence, whether my own choice of date hit the peak remains to be seen, but I don't think its far off.

This is the first time I've stayed over and I made the right choice, the butterfly in question was seen in good numbers, more than enough to sate the appetite of the most hungry iris hunter. Fermyn is a place where the hard baked gravelly rides brings the butterfly down to take in minerals among other assorted delicacies and once the butterfly is content with what's on offer chances are your going to see some super purple flashed by the males

One of the many PE males seen flashing...!!!

Side view of HIM...His Imperial Majesty!!!

Thursday was much the cooler of the two days with intermittent sunshine, and I had pre-arranged to meet fellow UKB's Phil Bromley for an early 8am start, this mean't leaving home at 4.45am to hopefully miss the worst of the morning traffic in and around Birmingham & Coventry...huh...dream on the M42 and M6 were bumper to bumper for a good 40 miles, but I still managed to arrive at Fermyn for the kick-off ...just!!! Phil had arrived from the opposite direction taking in a good 3 mile walk through excellent habitat, habitat that he showed me during the evening and I had a bonus male Brown Hawker there that I managed to photograph (the species is very scarce in south Wales).

Male Brown Hawker finally resting up...

The amount of Comma's seen throughout Fermyn was exceptional, everyone we met seemed to think they had never seen more, I know I never have and I counted half a dozen down on minerals on one patch alongside two Purple Emperor and what a contrast these species produced when photographed in 'synchronised sipping' mode

Who needs exotics???

Another superb PE showing off...

One of the pleasures of Fermyn during the PE season is meeting other enthusiasts and exchanging information on species, photography etc, on Thursday Phil and I spent some quality time with Iain Leach and his good friend and fellow photographer Mark Johnson, Iain is well known to UK Butterflies for his superb images and needs no introduction, Mark is a full pro photographer and it was great to watch them at work (if you call it work ) many thanks for your time and company lads

PE on minerals

Friday dawned bright and clear with hardly a cloud in the sky, the woods alive with all that mother nature has to offer on such a wonderful mid-summer morning. Arriving from my B&B at 9am the Lyveden Gliding Club car park was already full and the roadside verges were quickly filling up I headed through the main access ride to meet Phil and his old butterflying 'side-kick' Nick Ballard (it must be great to have a mate you can kick in the side when you miss that special shot ) and on turning a corner I bumped into the one and only Andy Dyball who was almost sat on a PE begging to have it's photo taken...so I did

Begging for a picture...

There were many other Emperors also on the wing on this very hot day, not of the butterfly kind though may I hasten to add, these superb critters were our largest British dragonflies and one posed nicely during the morning for some images, while several passing enthusiasts also took the chance of getting a record shot

The other Emperor of the woods...

Before the day ended Phil and myself said our farewells to Nick and headed back to our cars, but first the White-letter Hairstreak Wych Elm we had seen during previous visits warranted a 'look-see' and sure enough we saw perhaps three females egg-laying, but by now the breeze had come up and the insects were also hyper-active, this combination proved very frustrating and study and photo's proved difficult, below is a couple of record only shots.

Egg-laying White-letter Hairstreak

This ended another great Fermyn Woods adventure, I'd like to thank Phil for his much enjoyed company once again and finally just add that among the other species seen were:- White Admiral, Silver-washed Fritillary (with reports of a couple of valezina) and Purple Hairstreak.

Bill

"When in doubt - venture out"

[David M]

Great report, Bill. One of the great sadnesses of being away in France is that I had to miss out on the Purple Emperor azimuth.

I may make a pilgrimage this coming weekend if the weather is fair, but I suspect the 'main course' will be over by then.

[Paul Harfield]

Hi Willrow

Great selection of Purple Emperors from Fermyn Wood it looks like a wonderful place. I especially like that image of grounded Comma and Purple Emperor together, superb

[millerd]

Lovely Emperors, Bill, and I have to agree that the shot with the Comma supping in synch stands out. You actually see what a size the Purple Emperor is beside lesser mortals!

Dave

[Pauline]

Great report Bill and stunning photos too. I have seen WLH egg-laying and know just how difficult it is to catch them in the act. A place I would love to visit

[Maximus]

Great report and stunning photos from Fermyn, Bill : that's a great shot of the PE and Comma together

Mike

[Goldie M]

Fantastic shots of the PE Bill, I was due to go to Fermym but the weather s not too good for next week so it will have to be another year I think , mean time Ill enjoy your photos and drool Goldie

[IainLeach]

Great to see you again Bill, glad you had a good couple of days at Fermyn

[Neil Freeman]

Great report and stunning photos from Fermyn, Bill : that's a great shot of the PE and Comma together

Mike

I was going to say that but Mike has beaten me to it. Great stuff

Cheers,

Neil

[Katrina]

Emperor Very Purple Emperor Emperor with Comma
And topped off with dragonflies and WLHs
Superb photos!

[Wurzel]

Fantastic Purple Emperors an I echo what everyone else has said

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Willrow]

David, Jack, Dave, Pauline, Mike, Goldie, Iain, Neil, Katrina and Wurz...whew ...my mouse finger is playing up now Thank you for all the nice comments and taking the time to read about my couple of days in the wonderful Fermyn Woods, your all very kind

Best Wishes,

Bill

"When in doubt - venture out"

[trevor]

HI Bill,
I must add my congratulations on your year so far. High Browns and your Fermyn visit reports make
excellent reading. Some stunning images too!

TREVOR.

[jenks]

Hi Bill.

I must echo the sentiments of others; great report and fabulous pictures ( as usual ! ) from you. I must take inspiration from your motto and " venture out " this weekend. Now if you could inspire the weather to behave it would make all the difference.

Regards,

Jenks.

[trevor]

HI, Bill,
I'm afraid you have had your magic this year. The Large Blue ,the Large Heath
High Brown , and then all purple shots at Fermyn.
The first three are hundreds of miles from me, and i've never seen any of those three ever.

Keep up the good work,
Best wishes,
TREVOR.

[Willrow]

I must take inspiration from your motto and " venture out " this weekend. Now if you could inspire the weather to behave it would make all the difference

I have arranged for tomorrow to be very kind for you Gareth and thanks for the nice comments.

HI, Bill,
I'm afraid you have had your magic this year. The Large Blue ,the Large Heath
High Brown , and then all purple shots at Fermyn.
The first three are hundreds of miles from me, and i've never seen any of those three ever.

In time you will see all of those species Trevor, with just a bit of planning, perhaps next year ...and my thanks for the positive remarks

BW's

Bill

"When in doubt - venture out"

[Willrow]

Last Wednesday I finally fulfilled a promise I had made to myself years ago, to spend a day at Whixall Moss, Shropshire primarily for one of our rarest and most threatened dragonflies - the White-faced Darter and I wanted to see one on the Welsh side of the reserve, because this is the only location in Wales where the insect exists...so it wasn't asking much to find one Secondly, I also wanted to see the Large Heath form davus for the first time, my only other experience with LH is polydama. I'll get straight to the point, on both counts I was not to be disappointed

Regarding my quest to see White-faced Darter in Wales, for those wondering that if Whixall Moss is in Shropshire how can the darter be in Wales Well the answer to this little riddle is quite simple - the Wales/England border runs right through the reserve, so if I couldn't find the darter in the Welsh section, I would have to chase one over the border from the English side (the reserve is co-managed by Natural Resources Wales & Natural England) whatever, I did manage to find this fascinating little dragonfly in the Welsh section I'm delighted to say and managed to get some good photographs of males and paired insects too

Male White-faced Darter

Paired White-faced Darter

In the case of the davus form of Large Heath the butterfly was in reasonable numbers throughout the reserve I spent time in, however, I would like to emphasize here that both polydama and davus forms can be found in Wales, I had never read or heard of this important fact before, and the thought only struck me on the journey home, but I will need to pour over the literature I have (during the winter ) to find out more regarding this interesting point.

The dark davus form of Large Heath

The brisk wind caused some frustration with both butterflies and dragonflies, once disturbed by other critters they often flew over and onto the bogs...where no man dare go for fear of ending up in the future as a preserved 'peat bog body'

Large Heath on Cross-leaved Heath

I spent over eight hours with these moss loving species and during that time I became so engrossed that the only other butterfly species I photographed were Small & Green-veined White and the latter appeared to be enjoying the Cross-leaved Heath just as much as the Large Heath.

Green-veined White nectaring on Cross-leaved Heath

Basking Small White

Whixall Moss covers a vast area and is flanked by Fenn's & Bettisfield Mosses, its impossible to do justice to this rich habitat area without spending lots of time there, something I would love to do, however the reserve is a three hour drive from my home, so when I return (hopefully next year) it'll mean doing a B&B and then I'll also take in the Silver-studded Blue at Prees Heath which is just down the lanes...(read - many lanes ).

Looking towards the distant Welsh hills from the vastness that is Whixall Moss

I discovered what appears to be a July Highflyer hidden away up on a timber joist in a small display information structure on my way out of the reserve, this is a very varied species of macro moth from the 'carpet/geometrid family' and can often cause even the most experienced 'moth-ers' ID problems...oh! and incidentally most 'moth-ers' hate to be referred to as 'mothers'...

July Highflyer

Finally I can't resist posting one further image of a White-faced Darter...cos' I've fallen in love with em'

Nicely posing male White-faced Darter

Got home at 10 o'clock after a great day in a great place, I highly recommend Whixall Moss to anyone that wants to see Large Heath it's among the nearest places to see the species if you coming from either the midlands or the south of England. If your travelling from the south-west then Tregaron, Powys is a better option.

Bill

"When in doubt - venture out"